


Maybe Not So Broken

by RoamingHalla



Category: X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Comfort, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, I care about their friendship so much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-20 06:33:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30000735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoamingHalla/pseuds/RoamingHalla
Summary: A Scene that places after issue 12 of x-23 (II)Remy realized that what he said had been right, Laura was almost like family to him, not by blood, but something better, something stronger, a family born of two broken people who refused to let the world be right about them.
Relationships: Laura Kinney & Remy LeBeau
Kudos: 6





	Maybe Not So Broken

The chatter from near the door drew his attention away from what he had been reading, it was nothing truly interesting in itself, just some news to keep himself busy as he waited for Laura to come back home. She had left with Jubilee hours ago when the night had just set, and though he knew both of them were more than capable and could handle themselves, he could not find the strength inside to not worry about both of them.

He could not sleep, he knew he needed it, the week had been another long, drawn out week, and he was certainly tired. But he could not close his eyes and sleep peacefully as if everything had been okay, not when Laura was out of his sight, not when she was anywhere in Paris. Not after what had happened, Laura had almost killed him - not out of her doing, he knew that truth and he would never hold her for an action she had no control over - and he had to contemplate doing what he knew she wanted, killing her if she could not be recovered from the state she was in when exposed to the trigger scent. He could not sleep when he was worried about if that would happen again, and if she was overtaken by the trigger scent and he was not there to help her out of it, what would happen to her?

His question had no answer as the door swung open.

“Now this is where I take off for the night, hope you won’t miss me too much.” Jubilee smiled at Laura and then turned around to leave

“I’ll manage.” Laura said not unkindly, and if he did not know her as well as he had, he would have missed it, but she was almost smiling. 

Jubilee stood in the doorway and looked back at her, as if she could not leave with letting her have the last word.

“You say that now but when I don’t show up for our shopping date tomorrow you will regret it, your taste in fashion is questionable at best!”

“You were the one who said my clothes are part of my voice and I must find it. Perhaps I should find my voice alone.”

““Don’t use my great wisdom against me!’ Jubilee raised her voice in mock offense, and Laura laughed at her.

The sound was quiet, almost an echo of a laugh as if it was not truly there but he could not stop himself from smiling at it. He had not heard her laugh since he had promised to help her, and though he knew Laura had come to trust him as much as he had her, they had become friends in a way he had not foreseen, he had yet to get her to laugh as easily as Jubilee had in one night

And he was glad that she was getting along with her, Laura out of everyone he knew deserved a friend she could trust. 

“If you are gonna just stand there and laugh I will take my advice and leave with it!” Jubilee’s voice was light.

“I do not think you can leave with it if you already shared it with me. ” Laura said and Jubliee let out a huff of annoyance.

She then turned back and began walking away as she yelled “Leaving now!” 

“You are still coming with me at three tomorrow?” Laura yelled after her.

“Yep! Wouldn't want to miss it!” Jubilee answered, as her footsteps began to quiet down until neither of them could hear it, Laura walked further inside the room and closed the door behind them.

She began walking to where she had set up her room as if she did not see him there. He might have been hurt if he had not been so happy to hear her laugh, to hear her sound so carefree and happy despite everything that had happened in the past week. 

Then when she was in front of the door to her room, he stood up from where had been sat the whole night, waiting for her.

“You two had fun then?”

Laura turned around as soon as he said that and her eyes were wide in shock, she had after all, not seen him. Then, as soon as the shock registered on her face, she had taken control of it and her neutral stare returned. “We did.

“ ‘Am truly glad to hear that, petite.” As he spoke, he had walked over to where she stood with her arms crossed and her posture stiff, and he slowly placed a hand on her shoulder, enough time for her to recoil if she did not wish to be touched, but she stayed still, and Remy swore her shoulders lightened as his hand rested on it. “And I am glad you and Jubliee seem to have had a good time, but, for this old man’s sake, try not to spend s’long out when it’s this dark out.”

“Why? I did not do anything wrong.”

Remy laughed at that, a small humourless laugh, “No, no you didn’t, petite.”

He backed away before he spoke again. “ Just not a fan of the two of you alone in such a big city at night, ‘specially not when I haven’t a clue where you two went.”

“You are concerned for our safety? You do not need to, you out of everyone know just how capable I am.”

Her voice was so calm as she spoke, as if she knew for certain she was always going to be okay. And though he knew her strength, he had after all fought alongside her, she was speaking in hard certains in a world of shifting sands. 

“I do, but that doesn’ mean you’re invincible." As he said that, part of him wished that he could walk through certain that his powers were more than enough to handle anything the world threw at him. But, he knew that such beliefs were childlike dreams, safety as a mutant was never certain, and certainly not for a young woman like Laura. 

“I may not be truly invincible but I am near it. Tell me, would you be this concerned if Wolverine was out alone?’ 

Remy sighed as he spoke, “No, I wouldn’.”

“I am his clone, I was made to match his skill in every way, I am his equal, which means I can protect myself as well as he can.”

He did not like the way she talked about herself as nothing more than a clone, but he couldn't find the strength to voice that concern. 

“I know that.”

Laura looked up at him, her eyes meeting his, “Then why are you worried just about me? Why concern yourself with my safety if you would not be concerned about his?”

As began to speak he couldn't stop his hands from shaking nor the worry that had been eating away at him

“With Logan, I don’ have to worry about a trigger scent. I have no need to worry about him losing control over himself like I have to with you. And what if something did happen to you out there 'n you lost control, what then? I would not have been there to help you break free from it.” He confessed and the look Laura gave him broke him apart. 

Laura’s eyes widened, and for a second she looked hurt by his statement, for a moment her facade she carried, the unshakable statue she pretended to be, was broken. “You know I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I had done something terrible in that state. And you know that I would sooner have you kill me, have anyone kill me, then lose control over myself like that. ”

Laura’s voice was not angry, no it was hurt, and that stabbed at him like it was a knife sharpened again and again meant to pierce the toughest of skins and not mere words. 

"Yes, I know that, petite. But there lies the problem no? You would sooner die than hurt someone you love, 'n the same goes for me."

At that Laura's pain almost lightened, her face softened at what she heard and she walked closer as if she had to be near him to hear what he was saying.

"And I know if the time would come to it, 'am not so strong to do the brave 'n just thing.. " 

Remy's words were cut off by his own tears, the mere idea of being the one who was trusted with her own life, such a fragile thing in his hands was enough to break him. He couldn't hold such things, he was not good enough to handle life, to handle such delicate parts of a person. And now Laura was trusting him, with her friendship, with her life, telling him what she needed from him, the one single ask she has of him and yet he knew he was not brave enough to do it. 

"I couldn't bare the thought of losing family, losing people I love, certainty not by my own hand. 'Am not brave enough to do that, 'n I wouldn' be able to live with myself knowing you were gone, by my hand or another, knowing if I had just been there, you would be safe." Remy swallowed, trying to keep himself calm.

"I know you would want it, 'n I surely understand, yet I wouldn' be able to kill you, not even then. "

Arms wrapped around him as he finished, he almost flinched at first, a gesture he was so unused to but he welcomed it. "I will not ask that of you again, it would not be right of me"

Remy felt the words he wanted to say leave, as if his voice could not find the strength to come out. Instead, he smiled at her, then wrapped his arms gently around Laura, he knew the girl had been through so much that this act, a hug, meant more than any words she could’ve said. It was a trust given to him, placed in his hands that felt too destructive to hold and yet someone like Laura, could put such a fragile lovely thing and trust him with it perhaps, perhaps he was deserving of it. 

Perhaps what the X-Men had said he was wrong, perhaps he was more than some stray treated with at best distrust and at worst utter contempt. Perhaps he was a man worthy of trust, who deserved it even. 

“Thank you.”

At that Laura backed away out of the hug, and so did he, not wishing to push it any farther than she wanted. She looked at him and her eyes narrowed, not in judgement more confusion.

“For what?” Laura asked.

Remy took in a breath, he thought for a moment he could lie to her, convince himself to not burden her with the truth, the way his heart had been broken, the messy web of pain and hurt that had raised him, that he felt he deserved, but the way she looked with gentle eyes, lies for once did not find him. 

“For seeing me, ‘n choosing to trust me, petite.” 

At that Laura’s eyes hardened, he could not discern why. “You have shown me nothing but trust, even when all you knew was the killer I had been raised to be, the killer everyone else saw me as. You trusted me, why would I not trust you back?” 

The honesty in her words, the truth behind it made him laugh. “You make it sound so simple, ‘n perhaps it is so simple but trust like yours isn’ so easy for me to come by.”

Remy sighed, forcing himself to try and sound serious for once, he could almost hear Rogue’s voice in his head teasing him for it. “The X-Men love their words of justice, non? But when it comes to finding a place for mutants like you ‘n me, the truth is a far bit messier. My past followed me even there, never seemed to leave me no matter what I seemed to do for ‘em, they all seemed content on holding me for the man I had once been, not open to the idea that man had the possibility to change." 

At that Laura almost seemed to nod, he knew his words were a truth she knew as well. He saw her open her mouth but then close it, as if she wanted to let him finish, as if she cared for what he had to say.

“Simply, they didn't trust me." He didn't add that he has felt like they were right once. 

" Suppose I still expect you to oneday see me the way everyone else does, not worthy of anything more than a muttered insult, always waiting to see your eyes watchin' me with the same distrust." He couldn't mention that the truth had been worse than that, worse than mere distrust. They had left him to die, as if he was nothing more than a mindless stray that had extended its stay and needed to be put down. 

"Just been hard to wrap my head round the idea that someone would see me, heard about the man I’d once been ‘n choose to trust me anyway, to care for me despite everything. ” 

Remy couldn’t stop himself from giving her his heart he supposed, he almost saw who he had been in her, someone alone and lost in the truest sense of the world, someone made of broken parts no one wanted. He hadn’t been honest in this way in so long, it was like clawing off parts of himself but it also felt almost good to do so

“I understand what that is like, to feel as if the world would rather you be the broken person defined by wrongs than someone better, and I would not ever treat you that way, not after you have seen me and been nothing but kind, perhaps far too kind.” Laura’s words drifted off, and the truth in them hurt. 

“You deserve it, petite.”

“And so do you.”

Remy smiled again, “Hm, wonder what everyone else would say if they saw the two of us like this, friends in the truest sense of the words. ‘Suppose they’d say like calls to like, nothing more than a thief ‘n a killer?” 

“Perhaps so. But does what they think of us matter more than what the truth is? Why concern ourselves with their thoughts if the truth is that we’re more than they thought.”

“When did you get so wise, petite?”

“You taught me that.” Laura's words were honest and kind and he could not stop himself from grinning ear to ear.

“ I like to think more of that is yourself. Just who you are when people give you the chance.”

"Thank you. That.. that means a lot."

Then she looked out the window, at the night sky outside, the blanket of quiet that had overtaken such a restless city. Then without a word, she turned to leave and he did not protest.

Then as she made her way to the door, she looked behind back at him. "When you said you could not kill family earlier, did you mean it when you said I was someone you loved?"

Remy raised a brow, had he not been clear enough? And then he realized he spoke too soon? Too much too soon? "It was the truth."

Laura blinked, and for a moment she had nothing to say, and her face was all completely shocked. As if she had expected him to say he had misspoke, that he hadn't actually meant it. 

"I-I.."

"You don' have to say it back petite, you don' have to say anything."

Laura nodded then looked away, down at the floor beneath her. 

"I am not used to hearing those words.." Laura breathed in as if she was trying to find the right words, "I was not made to be loved, to have a family, I was made by men who did not care about me beyond what use I was for them, beyond the killer they had raised me to be. To hear those words, freely given, I don't know how I should feel, not yet."

Laura then gave Remy a smile, a small tiny thing but it was as if she was grinning ear to ear, and he could not stop himself from hearing the words Storm had spoken to him weeks ago. _‘I just hope you can make Laura smile”_

He remembered what he had said in return, _“I am the best thief in the world, chere. If i can’t make her smile..I’ll steal one for her.”_

Truthfully he had thought he would have to, he was not sure he could even get Laura to even open up to him. But, then, as he saw her smile again, a near invisible thing, it was greater than any treasure he had stolen. 

After moments had passed, Laura spoke again as if she had just found strength to speak, “But thank you, for saying that, for believing it. It means more to me than I ever thought it would.”

At that, Remy grinned and watched as she turned back around to sleep, he let her go without a word in response. He hoped she realized just how much she had meant to him, how much her being so truthful meant to him. 

Remy realized that what he said had been right, Laura was almost like family to him, not by blood, but something better, something stronger, a family born of two broken people who refused to let the world be right about them.

**Author's Note:**

> anyway this comic got to me.. I love these two so much it's about the found family of it all 😭


End file.
